Or more accurately, "you win some, BIG TIME, you lose some, KIND OF"
First, this is not a thread highlighting a deep dilemma or frustration that I have, which I hear so many in the high end have, never truly happy w their sound
And it's not a negative comparison to those like Rodney w his new Giya G1 Spirits, and Mike L w his new MSB Select II, who never seem unhappy w their sound, and Mike L esp driven to always hear gear on the cutting edge
Preamble over
I've always been v happy, with major caveats, with my current setup based on Zu xoverless/full range/true high eff spkrs mated to full blooded, powerful NAT Audio SETs, in my previous apartment
It's undoubtedly a characterful sound, and what it lacked in transparency and imaging in my previous room, made up for in spades re tonal density, presence and sheer involvement
But certainly not the last word in refined "see thru-ness"
Now I'm in a new room with the same gear, radically improved acoustics (absolutely no exaggeration, number one upgrade by far bar none), uber quiet power, and massive strides being made in dealing with floor-borne issues utilising passive isolation platforms, and the system is just unveiling further what it's great at, more of the full blooded tonal density that so few pricey systems achieve IMHO, but a new found propensity for proper imaging and staging, microdynamic nuance and proper bass extension
All WIN WIN WIN
The yang to this ying (or should that be ying to this yang?) is the extra unveiling of sound quality is to some extent "revealing" my Zus
Unlike more SOTA spkrs like Wilson or Rockport, they cannot disappear totally
So music is much more transparent and deep front to back, but a certain "woodiness" or additional warmth is present that means a subtle but unavoidable trace of the speaker is left as an aural "thumbprint" in the room
Now, this is actually not unpleasant at all (hence this thread not meant as a plea for help as a disgruntled audiophile), it's a very benign colouration, but certainly if I was looking for one final transformation to complete the "magic spell" it would be for this sonic signature of the Zus being in the room to be eliminated
So I maintain a 95/5 mind split here, 95% totally immersed in the room based improvements that I could only have dreamed of, 5% somewhat self aware of easy to get on with shortcomings
Interestingly Sean Casey of Zu is aware of such things and he's been perfecting carbon fibre/birch composite monocoque cabinets and carbon fibre impregnation of drivers, plus v high sensitivity sub drivers, to try and leap the gap to Rockport, Magico and Wilson style minimisation of cabinet and driver colouration, and early reports are that he's succeeding a great deal
These factors are more in my head because my room is now so neutral and revealing I'm really aware of this ultimate lack of transparency, and I was wowed by a recent stellar Apogees trial that was class leading re transparency and zero cabinet colouration (planars obviously having no cabinet)
In my mind I have to decide if this really is a facet to get obsessed about
If it is I go for radical Apogee approach or new Zus that have massive tech and materials thrown at solving the issue
And it encapsulates what's so great and awful about this hobby, in that as a group we spend more and more cash, obsessing about smaller and smaller things, to the point where it's equal part nirvana of more musical message being delivered, and equal part going round in circles
First, this is not a thread highlighting a deep dilemma or frustration that I have, which I hear so many in the high end have, never truly happy w their sound
And it's not a negative comparison to those like Rodney w his new Giya G1 Spirits, and Mike L w his new MSB Select II, who never seem unhappy w their sound, and Mike L esp driven to always hear gear on the cutting edge
Preamble over
I've always been v happy, with major caveats, with my current setup based on Zu xoverless/full range/true high eff spkrs mated to full blooded, powerful NAT Audio SETs, in my previous apartment
It's undoubtedly a characterful sound, and what it lacked in transparency and imaging in my previous room, made up for in spades re tonal density, presence and sheer involvement
But certainly not the last word in refined "see thru-ness"
Now I'm in a new room with the same gear, radically improved acoustics (absolutely no exaggeration, number one upgrade by far bar none), uber quiet power, and massive strides being made in dealing with floor-borne issues utilising passive isolation platforms, and the system is just unveiling further what it's great at, more of the full blooded tonal density that so few pricey systems achieve IMHO, but a new found propensity for proper imaging and staging, microdynamic nuance and proper bass extension
All WIN WIN WIN
The yang to this ying (or should that be ying to this yang?) is the extra unveiling of sound quality is to some extent "revealing" my Zus
Unlike more SOTA spkrs like Wilson or Rockport, they cannot disappear totally
So music is much more transparent and deep front to back, but a certain "woodiness" or additional warmth is present that means a subtle but unavoidable trace of the speaker is left as an aural "thumbprint" in the room
Now, this is actually not unpleasant at all (hence this thread not meant as a plea for help as a disgruntled audiophile), it's a very benign colouration, but certainly if I was looking for one final transformation to complete the "magic spell" it would be for this sonic signature of the Zus being in the room to be eliminated
So I maintain a 95/5 mind split here, 95% totally immersed in the room based improvements that I could only have dreamed of, 5% somewhat self aware of easy to get on with shortcomings
Interestingly Sean Casey of Zu is aware of such things and he's been perfecting carbon fibre/birch composite monocoque cabinets and carbon fibre impregnation of drivers, plus v high sensitivity sub drivers, to try and leap the gap to Rockport, Magico and Wilson style minimisation of cabinet and driver colouration, and early reports are that he's succeeding a great deal
These factors are more in my head because my room is now so neutral and revealing I'm really aware of this ultimate lack of transparency, and I was wowed by a recent stellar Apogees trial that was class leading re transparency and zero cabinet colouration (planars obviously having no cabinet)
In my mind I have to decide if this really is a facet to get obsessed about
If it is I go for radical Apogee approach or new Zus that have massive tech and materials thrown at solving the issue
And it encapsulates what's so great and awful about this hobby, in that as a group we spend more and more cash, obsessing about smaller and smaller things, to the point where it's equal part nirvana of more musical message being delivered, and equal part going round in circles